Page 43 of Maid in America

“Chastity, stop! You cannot just barge into my Bible study andberateour flock while you live under my roof!”

“Ohhhhh,fuck your flock!”

A second woman gasped this time.

“You want Bible study? Why not look at some passages that are applicable to you, huh?”

Chastity waltzed up to one of the women and snatched the Bible off her lap. She flipped through pages wildly until she found the first passage. “Let’s see, James chapter one, verse twenty-six says, ‘If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless.’”

Her eyes flitted to one of the women. “I saw your son’s name in the paper a while back. Got arrested for possession. Had a…what did the paper call it?Oh yeah, a dealer’s amount of crystal methamphetamine in his car down at theLoaf ‘n Jugright there by the junior high. But, hey, according tothis, I should probably mind my own business onthatone, shouldn’t I?”

The woman didn’t even blink. The others watched Chastity’s furious flurry of page-flipping.

“Ephesians chapter four, verse twenty-nine says, ‘Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.’”

“Enough!” her mother screamed. But Maggie’s plea fell on deaf ears.

“No, no, I got another one. Psalm chapter one-hundred-and-nine, verse three. This one you’re gonna wanna highlight, flock. ‘They encircle me with words of hate and attack me without cause.’ Hmmm… Ladies? Sound familiar?”

“I said that is enough!” Maggie rose from her seat, though her shout never phased her wayward daughter.

“Guess that theology class you insisted I take is biting you in the ass now, ain’t it, Mother?”

“Chastity, I swear…” Maggie was at a loss for words, fuming.

Chastity closed the Bible loudly and pointed to one of the ladies. “Where is your husband, Anne? I’ll tell you. He’s shacked up with a girl half his age that he met two months ago atThe Alibi. And, Mary-Jo, everyone knows you pilfered proceeds fromlast year’s church carnival to buy that Kors purse because Herald cut you off.”

Maggie stomped her foot. “Chastity Marie Erikson, I want you out of this house!”

“Suit yourself.” Chastity shrugged as if her plans had not just been knocked into a complete tailspin. “Well, ladies, that should give you plenty more to jabber about. You’rewelcome.”

Chastity started out of the room, stopped, and turned. “I’ll get my things when you’re at Sunday service. Don’t worry. From now on, you won’t have to see yourdisgrace of a daughteranymore. Maybe consider adopting some needy African orphan or something so you can mold them into the wholesome version of whatever it is you expectedmeto be.”

Chastity turned so hard that her rainbow hair swung. She stuffed a few items into an overnight bag and hurried out to her car, leaving the stunned group of God-fearing women in silence.

16

Chastity sat outside ofThe Rabbit Run Apartment Complex. She’d withdrawn every last measly dollar in her account and every bit of cash advance she could get from her credit cards, setting aside her last hundred bucks for enough gas and food to get her through until her next paycheck, hoping it would be enough. She shakily handed a check over to a landlord whose skin looked like a worn leather bag. The woman sat, bleary-eyed and chain-smoking, in the dingy front office as Chastity signed the six-month lease agreement for the complex’s only available unit.

She had snatched it off the market, sight unseen. After having been shot down by every other apartment complex on her list due to having zero rental references or the landlords not having any units available, Chastity knew her only other options were agreasy motel or the back seat of her car if she wanted a place to sleep.

Rabbit Runrequired no background check or references, a thought that simultaneously overjoyed and worried Chastity. The decrepit landlord had even done her a solid and knocked six hundred bucks off the move-in amount because of the alleged state of the apartment. There was an understanding between them before she would be allowed to sign that Chastity would be on her own to clean it if she wanted to move in right away, as the last tenant had been forcibly removed only a few days prior.

She agreed without hesitation. Surely, a little elbow grease would make the place sparkle like new in a jiffy, and it might even endear her more to the unit. Plus, with no real friends that she could couch-surf with, Chastity needed a place -- and she needed it fast -- as springtime in Jackson Hole was no time to be sleeping in a sedan with a janky heater.

As the woman took the check, Chastity suddenly felt settled. The two-and-a-half thousand bucks she’d just forked over for first, last, and security was a small price to pay to be out of her parent’s house.

It was the monetary price of freedom.

Sure, things would be Ramen-noodle-tight for a long time, but college had taught her how to survive on a fast food Value Menu. With the reduced calorie intake, she would be swimsuit-ready by summertime, too, which was her glass-half-full way to look at it all.

For now, a Goodwill sleeping bag on the floor would be her bed, and the clothes in her trunk’s “Ho-bag” -- an emergency supply bag she kept for use after one-night stands -- would have to suffice as a pillow. In her mind, anything was a marked improvement from where she’d just left.

Up a dank stairwell and along a hallway lined with faded faux wood panel walls and ugly halogen bulbs, she found it.

Apartment 208. Four hundred square feet of apartment, every inch of which was hers.

She slid the key into the lock and pushed the door open. With a satisfied smile, she flicked on the lights. The expression vanished immediately, melting into a sorrowful frown.

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